Unexpected
by DanceInPurpleRain
Summary: Post 5x22 Damon & Bonnie watch their loved ones struggle with grief, unable to show they're still around, and a creature of darkness itself is determined to destroy the one thing that can save them–Damon and Elena's connection "Elena, I don't know if you can hear me, but I really need for you to" The unexpected can either save you or destroy you, what happens when it does both?
1. Prologue

**So this is meant to be a one shot, but I might continue it, I'm not really sure. I wrote this because I couldn't stop thinking about how they killed Damon, it was such a sweet ending, but I also hated it. The song is "Wings" by Birdy, it was playing during the finale scene.**

_Sunlight comes creeping in_

_Illuminates our skin_

_We watch the day go by_

_Stories of all we did_

_It made me think of you_

_It made me think of you_

They expected for Elena to break down. They expected for her to go hysterical, to turn it off. She expected for their expectations to be right. To all of their surprises they were wrong. She wasn't the one who turned it off, it was Stefan. It only took a week for him to disappear from their lives. It was unexpected, he seemed to be doing so well, especially compared to her. Now, three months later, Elena still wakes up expecting Damon to be next to her. She cries herself to sleep every night, she barely leaves her room and she barely speaks to anyone. Sometimes she gets angry, so angry that she can actually feel the hatred for him burning in her chest, because he promised he'd come back, he _promised_, so how could he leave her like that? But most of the time she's just sad, sad and broken. Rick's there for her and Jeremy, but it's not enough. It can never be enough. He's always on her mind, sometimes she tries really hard to forget, to just push every thought of him away, but something always makes her think of him.

_Under a trillion stars_

_We danced on top of cars_

_Took pictures of the stage_

_So far from where we are_

_They made me think of you_

_They made me think of you_

Damon opens his eyes expecting for Bonnie to still be beside him, but she's not. He looks around and realizes he's in Mystic Falls. He slowly sits up.

"Hello?" He asks, but it's late and no one's around to hear him. Damon's confused and his head is still spinning form the blinding light that just like Bonnie now is nowhere to be seen. He wonders if this is all there is to death, no heaven, no hell, you're just stuck to forever wonder around earth, completely alone. But he can breathe, he can feel, so this can't be death, right? He stands up and walks down the street, trying to find someone, anyone, he needs to know what's going on. Luck seems to be on his side tonight and he sees a woman quickly walking down the street. He's about to say something, but she walks right through him, which catches him by surprise. So he is dead. That's bad. The universe must really hate him. For a moment he wonders what he should do now, maybe try to find Bonnie? Or Stefan? And then it hits him and he knows exactly who he wants to find. Elena. He needs to see her. Even if she can't see him, he needs to know she's okay. But where could she be? His house? That sounds like a good place to check. It only takes him about ten minutes to reach the old house.

"Hello?" He calls out and then remembers no one can hear him. So he goes up to Elena's room, only to find it empty. He doesn't think much of it until he sees a note on her bed, the words written in her neat handwriting.

'_I never expected for things to turn out this way, but I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore._

_-Elena' _

His first though is that she turned it off, but then another thought crosses his mind. He tries to convince himself she wouldn't, but he can't push the thought away. He walks out of the house, his mind set on finding her, even though he knows there's nothing he could do even if he's right. He knows where she'd go if she was going to do it, it's where she went last time, thought back then it was the hunter's curse pushing her to do it and now it was him.

_Oh lights go down_

_In the moment we're lost and found_

_I just wanna be by your side_

_If these wings could fly_

_Oh damn these walls_

_In the moment we're ten feet tall_

_And how you told me after it all_

_We'd remember tonight_

_For the rest of our lives_

She's walking slowly, taking her time, when all she wants to do is run to her destination and get it over with already. A more rational part of her brain is telling her turning it off sure as hell beats this, but she ignores it. She doesn't want to turn it off, doesn't want to stop loving him. If she can't love, then what's the point? All she wants is to be near him again, but fate is cruel and people rarely get what they want. People rarely get what they deserve, she knows it's selfish to think this way, but it's just not fair, she always gave everything she had to protect the people she loved, she died to save someone else, she did everything and yet all she ever got in return was loss and pain. She can never be happy, she knows that now. The small possibility of seeing him again after death brings her comfort. She stops in front of the bridge. This is where she lost her parents and then died herself, seems right for this to be the place she will die, this time permanently.

_I'm in a foreign state_

_My thoughts they slip away_

_My words are leaving me_

_They caught an aeroplane_

_Because I thought of you_

_Just from the thought of you_

She knows this isn't what he'd want. But he's not here. He's not here to tell her how stupid she's being or that she's the most amazing person he's ever met or that she doesn't need him, he's gone. She remembers the time he saved her from the hunter's curse.

'_Well you know what they say about teen suicide. Don't do it.' _He had joked afterwards. His memory brings tears she can't stop anymore, she doesn't even feel the need to, but with the tears come the sobs that wreck her entire body. For a moment she just stands there, crying and screaming words that make no sense. She composes herself long enough to pick up the bottle of gasoline she brought with her.

_Oh lights go down_

_In the moment we're lost and found_

_I just wanna be by your side_

_If these wings could fly_

_Oh damn these walls_

_In the moment we're ten feet tall_

_And how you told me after it all_

_We'd remember tonight_

_For the rest of our lives_

_If these wings could fly_

He runs all the way to the bridge. He hears her before he sees her, the cries are heartbreaking, but what makes him feel like he's dying all over again is the fact that he was right, she's here, she's going to do it and there's nothing he can do to stop her. He runs towards the bridge and sees her. Her eyes are red from crying, her hair messy and she's slightly shaking.

"Elena!" He yells even though she can't hear him. She picks up a bottle of gasoline and pours it around herself, then she violently throws the bottle to the ground. He runs up to her and stops right in front of her. He notices a lighter in her shaky hands.

"No, no, no, no, don't you dare!" He yells panicked. He tries to grab her hands, but they go right through his. She's still crying.

"Elena, please, don't do this." He begs.

"How could you leave me?" She asks between sobs.

"I didn't have a choice, but I'm here now, Elena, I'm right here!" He yells as loud as he can as if that would make her hear him, it doesn't.

"You left me. You left me." She cries. She presses the lighter and his eyes widen when he sees the flame.

"No, don't. Don't do this." He begs trying to touch her face. Her hands are shaking even more and he desperately tries to think of a way to save her, but comes up with nothing.

"Elena, I'm right here. Look at me, just look at me, I'm here." He lightly touches her cheek, but can't feel the contact. She gets a strange feeling, a warmness and she takes in a shaky breath. Damon notices this change.

"Elena? Can you feel that?... Do you know I'm here?" He asks hopefully. Her hands are still tightly holding the lighter with the small fire. He's not much of a believer but he prays for a miracle.

"Elena?" He whispers, his hand still on her cheek. She's still crying, but her eyes are darting around as if looking for something. The thought that the warm feeling is coming from Damon crosses her mind, but she doesn't let herself hope. She definitely feels a presence, but she can't tell whenever it's just because she really wants to.

"Elena, I don't know if you can hear me, but I really need for you to. Come on, just look at me, look at me." He begs desperately. To his surprise she does, she's looking right through him so he knows she can't really see him, but at least she's looking at his direction, for now that gonna have to be enough. He caresses her cheek hoping that it will at least bring her some kind of comfort.

"You knows I'm here, don't you? I don't know how, but you do. I'll come back to you. I promise, I'll come back, but you have to wait for me. Trust me, I'll find a way, but I need for you to wait." He says hoping that by some miracle she has any idea of what he just said.

"D-Damon?" She asks between her sobs that have noticeably calmed down.

"Yeah, I'm here, I've got you." He promises. She can feel his presence, for the first time since his death she feels calm and hopeful, even if just a little bit.

"Damon." She cries.

"I'll find my way back to you. Now turn the lighter off, please, please, turn it off." He begs while gently putting his free hand on top of her shaking one that's squeezing the lighter. She looks down at their hands, only seeing her own, but her hand feels warm and she has a pretty good idea of what he wants her to do.

"I can't go on without you." She says shaking her head.

"Yes you can. Elena, I will come back." He says the last part slowly, hoping she will hear his promise.

"Come back to me." She whispers. Damon's shocked by her response. He wonders whenever she actually heard him.

"I will." He says. She loosens her hand and turns the lighter off.

"Thank God." He sighs. She lets the lighter fall from her hands.

"I love you." She says.

"I love you too." He says and kisses her on the forehead. He will find a way back, failing isn't an option. And so what that most would say it's impossible? Today is full of unexpected things, him waking up back in Mystic Falls, Elena trying to kill herself, Elena knowing he was there. The unexpected is all he has so he's going hold on to it with everything he has.

_Oh lights go down_

_In the moment we're lost and found_

_I just wanna be by your side_

_If these wings could fly_

_Oh damn these walls_

_In the moment we're ten feet tall_

_And how you told me after it all_

_We'd remember tonight_

_For the rest of our lives_

**Please review if you liked this, it would mean a lot to me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so sorry this took so long, but now I decided to make this into a short story that will have a few more chapters.**

Elena doesn't know how to react, doesn't know how to feel, or what to believe. Could her mind be playing tricks on her? Or is he really here? She's so sure he is, but what if it's not real? If she lets herself believe and it turns out she's wrong… she can't go through that heartache again. It would be like losing him all over again…

"Elena." She feels his voice more than she hears it, really it's more like an echo lost in the wind. The sun is rising and she's still standing on the bridge, drenched in gasoline, shaking and crying.

Damon stares at Elena in amazement as her breath hatches in her throat and her eyes carefully scan her surroundings after he calls her name. Once again he finds himself wondering whenever she actually heard him. He notices the first rays of the rising sun. _'My first sunrise since I died.' _He realizes. But something tells him it's been more than a day since then.

"God I hope it hasn't been years." He thinks out load. His eyes travel to Elena who is staring at the sun with wonder. At this moment to him she looks like a lost child who hasn't seen the sun in years. She looks broken, his heart breaks just looking at her, because he knows he's the cause of this. He's the reason she came here to kill herself tonight and how he managed to stop her is beyond him.

"I- I don't know i-if you're r-really here, but I need you Damon, I- I n-need you s- so much." She stutters between her tears.

"I need you too baby." He says softly, but this time she gives no sign of hearing him, which makes the realization come to him, that he might be stuck like this forever, forced to watch her suffer and the weak communication they managed to have tonight might've been a one-time thing. This makes him worried… no, not worried, terrified. He temporarily pushes this fear down, because this isn't about him, he needs to focus on her now.

Suddenly she remembers the short note she left for the others. She decides that if she's not going to die today, it would probably be better if they didn't find it. There's no way for her to know for sure if he's actually here, but she's too desperate to get him back to not believe it. She needs to believe, even if it might destroy her even more in the end, so she takes a deep breath, tries to calm herself down and starts speaking.

"Okay… okay, if you're here, then please just stay with me, don't leave me again. I'm going to go home now, hopefully everyone's still sleeping, so please, _please_ come with me… don't leave." She managed to calm herself down before speaking, but as the words started leaving her mouth she remembered the night he died, she remembered how she begged him to not leave her, just like she is now and it made her voice crack, it took everything in her to say this without breaking down again.

All Damon can do is watch her struggle with her words as tears once again gather in her eyes.

"I'll never leave you again Elena." He whispers. Once again, there's no sign that would tell him she heard him, or that she even knows he's still here. She picks up the lighter and for a moment panic rushes through him as he thinks she changed her mind about the suicide thing, but then she puts it in her pocket and with relief he realizes she simply didn't want to leave it laying around.

"So I'm going to go now and… come with me." She pleads quietly. She starts slowly walking of the bridge. She doesn't know this, but Damon walks by her side, never falling behind the entire way back to the boarding house. She stops in front of the door and after a quick moment of hesitation opens the door and steps inside.

"Elena." Jeremy says and he has his arms wrapped around Elena in a tight hug before she even closes the front door. She hugs him back, but it feels weird to be so close to someone after the three months she spent avoiding human contact like a plague. They pull away and she sees pain in his eyes, pain that matches her own. Now that she has hope again, even if it's very small she can think a little more clearly and she instantly feels guilty for almost leaving her brother after he already lost so much: their parents, aunt Jenna, Bonnie and tonight he almost lost the only family he had left. Her note that he's now tightly clutching in his hand tells her that he knows how close he came to losing her.

"I'm sorry." She says simply. She looks around the empty house, relieved no one else seems to know.

"I just found the note, I was about to call everyone before you came back." He says. She nods and finds it that she doesn't know what to say. In the past three months never once did she stop to think that she's not the only one suffering, she's not the only one who would gladly end it all.

Damon watches the exchange between siblings with relief, at least Elena still has her brother, with the supernatural craziness you never know who else could've died in the time he was gone, another thing is that he doesn't know how long he's been gone, but Jeremy doesn't look any older, so it couldn't have been too long. Seeing Elena's brother makes him think about Stefan, if his brother was in the boarding house he would've been here with Jeremy panicking about Elena's note, so where is he? This train of thought brings an uneasy feeling to Damon, he knows that it's just so like Stefan to feel responsible for every single bad thing in the world and when he really thinks about it his younger brother was unintentionally responsible for his death, not like Damon blames him for what happened, but he wouldn't be surprised if Stefan reached this conclusion, so what if he went and did something stupid?

"What were you going to do?" Jeremy asks Elena. She hesitates, wondering whenever to tell him about her plan and the reason she didn't go through with it. The note wasn't very specific. She didn't want it to be, she wanted for them to think she took off somewhere like Stephen did, it was her weak attempt at sparing her brother and friends some pain. But what's the point in lying anyway? She's always hated being lied to, so she should be honest with others too, besides the smell of gasoline coming from her clothes probably already gave her away.

"I was going to kill myself." She whispers, avoiding his eyes.

This distracts Damon from his worries about his brother. The phrase makes his heart sink, sure he already knew it, he was there, but hearing her say it… it only makes it hurt even more. He never wanted to hurt her, never, not even when he first met her and yet that's exactly what he did. He hurt her so much he's not sure he'll ever be able to mend her broken heart, or if he'll even have the opportunity to try. All he wants in this moment is to have her in his arms, to take in her scent, to hold her and never let her go again. But he can't.

"God Elena, I lost someone too, how could you… I…" Jeremy struggles with words, stuck between anger that she would want to leave him, sadness, fear that she will eventually go through with it and understanding, because he knows exactly what she's feeling and why she would want a way out. He settles on something in the middle.

"I understand, but I can't lose you too. If I do I'm pretty sure I'll be right behind you." Jeremy says.

"I know, I'm sorry." She apologizes again, this time with tears threatening to fall form her eyes.

Their conversation is causing Damon more and more pain. He hates to admit it, but he cares about Jeremy, not only because Elena needs him, but also because… well he genuinely cares about him.

"Where are you Bonnie?" Damon asks sadly, Jeremy needs her, Elena needs her, heck _he_ needs her. Unsurprisingly neither of the Gilberts hear him.

Elena considers telling Jeremy about her suspicions of Damon being there, but then decides that there's not much to tell, she felt his presence, she's pretty sure she heard him, though it wasn't exactly _hearing _more like feeling his words, which sounds insane even to her, she decides to wait until she figures out more, which hopefully she will.

"I know I scared you, but I didn't do it… and I won't do it, not anytime soon at least." Elena promises to Jeremey, but hopes that Damon heard her too. She knows that if he really was there like she suspected him to be, the site of her almost taking her own life and the guilt of leaving her behind must've been unbearable to him, so she wants for him to at least know that she isn't going to go and try to do something stupid again now.

"Is there anything I can do?" Jeremy asks softly and the understanding in his eyes makes Elena's heart clench, she'd rather have him have no idea what she's feeling if that would spare him the pain that she knows mirrors her own.

"Not right now, no." Elena answers. "I'm tired, I'm going to go get some rest." She adds. She doesn't wait for him to answer before walking upstairs. The only thing she wants do to right now is try to talk to Damon, try to figure something out. After… _that_ night she wanted to stay in Damon's room, but she couldn't, being there made her feel closer to him, but it was also a constant reminder of what she lost, but now she feels like she wouldn't want to be anywhere else and maybe being there would somehow make their connection stronger, maybe it would make it easier for them to talk, so she opens the door to his room and steps inside. His familiar scent overtakes her and she feels like she's suffocating from all of the memories and the loss and the pain. But while the last time she was in here and felt all of this she left the room in speed that was impressive even for a vampire, this time she simply closes the door behind her and sits down on his bed.

Damon sees the tears threatening to fall from her already red eyes and feels useless, unable to comfort her. He walks up to the bed she's sitting on and squats down in front of her.

"Please don't cry." He gently asks. She doesn't hear him, he can tell, so he tries a different approach. He puts his hand on top of hers. Her teary eyes instantly travel to the hand he's touching.

"Can you feel that?" He asks hopefully.

"Damon? You're really here, aren't you?" She asks.

"I'm here." He says. He closes his eyes, trying to save the fragile moment of peace and hope for as long as possible. He imagines actually feeling her soft hand under his.

"I love you." She whispers, but there's a deep sadness in her voice. She's broken and he knows it.

Damon opens his eyes and watches her as she lays down on his bed and moves to the other side of it. He instantly knows what she wants him to do and lays down on the other side. They're facing each other on the bed and even though the bed shows no sign that there's a second person occupying it and Elena seems to look right through him Damon has a feeling that she knows he's here. For now that's enough.

He stays with her until she falls asleep, which seems to come surprisingly easy to her. He wonders if it's his presence that brings her some piece, because judging by the bags under her eyes she hasn't had a good night's sleep in a long time. They lay lie that for hours, her sleeping and him gazing at her and he lets himself forget the predicament they're in. He imagines that if he reached out his hand to brush it through her soft hair he'd feel her breath on his hand and maybe then she'd wake up and look at him with so much love, like only she can and then they'd kiss and he'd get that feeling where it's like the rest of the world just fades away and she's the only thing that matters.

"Damon!" He hears a frantic voice and it actually makes him jump. He sits up and looks behind him to see the terrified face of the girl he was seriously starting to worry about.

"Bonnie." He says feeling relieved. She made it back just like he did and now together they'll figure something out, she did always come up with solutions for seemingly impossible problems.

"Damon have you seen it?" She asks quickly walking up to the bed. She nervously looks around as if any time now a monster will jump out of the darkness and attack her.

"Seen what?" He asks confused. They're already dead, what's there left to be afraid of?

"It. We have to hurry I think he it might've followed me here, we have to go." She says pulling at his hand. This blind panic is so unlike her that Damon finds himself starting to freak out too.

"Go where?" He asks letting her pull him off the bed. He looks back at the sleeping Elena. He can't leave her again.

"I don't know, but we can't let it find us, I-I barely got away, come on. She'll be fine, it's us you should worry about." She rushes him out of the room and his heart breaks at having to leave Elena again. Bonnie pulls him down the stairs of the boarding house and out into the night. They run through the woods. They finally stop in a small clearing. The moon shining down on them looks so different from the one he used to, something about it's light seems… sinister.

"Okay, I think we got away." Bonnie says. For the first time that night he really looks at the used to be witch.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asks hesitantly.

"Considering everything, yeah, why?" She asks. Something about her seems different… uncharacteristic. Something about this whole scene looks just wrong, like something from a nightmare and Damon finds himself regretting leaving the familiar room with the girl of his dreams.

"Do you think Rick is around here somewhere too? Because if so then we should probably try to find him and warn him about… whatever it is we were running from." Damon finds himself saying and instantly feels bad for his uncalled for concern.

"Yeah, probably." Bonnie says. But no, not Bonnie, Bonnie would've known that Rick made it through okay.

"Right." Damon forces a casual tone. He starts looking around for a weapon, sees a pretty big tree branch lying a few feet away and starts moving towards it, but then gasps and almost falls backwards when the Bonnie who isn't Bonnie appears out of nowhere when he could've sworn she was standing on the completely different side of the clearing a moment ago.

"Who are you?" He asks sharply. Whoever she is she's keeping him from Elena and God knows where the real Bonnie is so he's not too happy with her. The girl smiles an evil smile which doesn't look right on Bonnie's face at all. Suddenly the wind picks up and Bonnie's eyes turn black. But then it's not just her eyes, her entire face becomes covered with black lines that look like nothing he's ever seen before.

"I'm _it_ and you're in _my_ territory now." The blackness rips out of the girl's body and the girl who suddenly looks a lot more like Bonnie collapses on the ground. The blackness charges towards him. He was not expecting this at all.

**I know this took a weird turn, but I hope you liked it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**See how fast I am at updating now? And I didn't even get many reviews, BTW thank you everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed, feedback means a lot to me so seriously thanks so much. Anyway, I decided that at least for now I won't let the lack of reviews discourage me, I love writing, I love TVD, I love Delena and I love this idea. Reviews would be nice though lol.**

"_I'm it and you're in my territory now." The blackness rips out of the girl's body and the girl who suddenly looks a lot more like Bonnie collapses on the ground. The blackness charges towards him. He was not expecting this at all._

Damon jumps to the ground and out of the way of the darkness. He lands next to the unconscious girl. She looks a lot more like Bonnie now that the darkness left her body. He looks back to the direction the darkness was charging to, hoping to see that it's gone, but it's there. The darkness is floating in the air and it almost looks like a shape. Damon uses the opportunity that the darkness isn't attacking him at the moment, picks the girl who might be Bonnie up and runs in the other direction. He runs through the woods until he reaches a random house, which unfortunately isn't the boarding house, but it'll have to do. He walks into the empty house and lays Bonnie down on the couch. Bonnie isn't waking up so Damon walks towards the window and looks outside. It's dark outside, but _the_ _darkness_ isn't there. He hears a groan from behind him and quickly turns around only to see Bonnie trying to sit up.

"Bonnie?" He asks hesitantly.

"Damon?" She asks obviously confused. He takes a few steps towards her.

"What happened?" She asks looking around.

"I was hoping you would tell me that." He says still wary of her.

"I'm not sure." She says.

"Tell me something only you would know." He says.

"What? Why?" She asks confused. He gives her a long, suspicions look and she rolls her eyes.

"We held hands when the other side imploded. Will that do?" She asks.

"Yes. Now tell me what the hell is going on here, what happened to you, where we are and what that thing was." He says finally sitting down next to her on the couch.

"I don't know, Damon I'm as clueless as you are. I think my grams did something to protect me when the other side imploded and because we were holding hands you were protected too, but obviously we're on our own now. I woke up and there was this darkness in front of me, the next thing I knew it was charging towards me and that's it, the next thing I knew I woke up here." She explains.

"Yeah, I think you were possessed by _'it'_, whatever _'it'_ is." Damon says.

"It?" Bonnie asks confused.

"Yeah, all I know is that we should avoid it." Damon says sighing.

"It kind of makes sense." Bonnie says

"What does?" He asks.

"The other side is gone, wherever we are this is not the place where supernatural creatures exist after death, this is something else so it kind of makes sense there are creatures here we've never heard of." She says looking like she's in deep thought.

"You know, that creature wanted to lure me away from Elena." He says.

"Really?" She asks.

"Yeah, I mean why else drag me out of the house and through the woods instead of just attacking me? I think it's because she could feel me." He says.

"She felt you? That's not possible." Bonnie says.

"Did you suddenly get amnesia and forget the last years of our lives? Anything is possible." Damon says.

"Well if that is the case, then we should go find Elena, because if it finds us here we'll be helpless." Bonnie says.

"Maybe we should wait till morning, it'll be easier to navigate through the woods then anyway" Damon says, then he looks at Bonnie and notices that she has her head in her hands and looks pretty freaked out.

"Are you okay? You're not being possessed again, are you?" He asks nervously.

"No, no, it's just that… it's nothing, just forget it." She says, but she has a very uneasy look on her face.

"We're in this together, if something's wrong then you should tell me. I don't know how about you, but I'd like to actually make it out of this in one piece." He says.

"I didn't remember being possessed at first, but I think I'm starting to." She says.

"What do you remember?" He asks. She hesitates, but then decides he should know and sighs.

"I remember being in the dark, it was all around me and… I wasn't alone in there. There were others, they were screaming like they were in agony and… and there was something wrong about them." She explains shuddering at the memory. She's sure the screams will hunt her nightmares for a while now… well that is if she can sleep here.

"That sounds like something we should try to avoid." He says.

"There's more…" She hesitates again.

"Well that tone never indicates good news." He says.

"I felt like I was losing myself, like the darkness was trying to destroy me from the inside out and the longer I stayed there the more the feeling intensified, I was actually starting to forget things, people." She says. They stare at each other for a few seconds, each lost in their own thoughts until Bonnie breaks the silence.

"I thinks that's what that things does. It finds innocent souls that ended up in this realm and lets the darkness slowly destroy them until there's nothing human left about them." She says nervously looking around.

"Well isn't that's optimistic." Damon says sarcastically, but his heart isn't in it. "Okay, we'll wait till morning, then go find Elena and try to somehow let her know that we could really use some help and hopefully as long as we stick by her '_it'_ won't bother us." Damon continues sounding more determined than he actually is.

"Okay." Bonnie says desperately trying to forget the screaming that now seems to be ringing in her ears non-stop.

Bonnie curls up on the couch and tightly closes her eyes as if trying to block something out. Damon finds himself actually worrying about the usually so indestructible teen witch. He also worries about Elena, sure he's worried for his own life too, but if he gets caught by that thing he'll break his promise to find a way back to her, and then she'll be all alone and probably commit suicide like she already tried to and then maybe she'll end up here and become yet another victim of _'it'_. He decides that he won't let anything keep him from Elena again, not even that weird darkness thing.

The rest of the night goes by rather uneventfully. They stay in the house, Bonnie curled up on the couch and Damon staring out the window and occasionally sitting down on a nearby chair. They sit together in silence and wait for the sun to rise.

Finally light floods into the room.

"We should go, we have no time to waste." Damon says determined to be near Elena again. Bonnie only nods. They stand up from their respectful places and walk towards the door, but stop right in front of it, hesitating.

"Okay, this is ridiculous, the sooner we start walking the sooner we'll get there." Damon says and opens the door. They step outside.

"We came from that way." Damon says so they start walking in that direction.

"This whole place is so creepy." Bonnie says.

"Hey, don't think like that. Think of it as one of those near death experiences we always have, except that this time we're actually dead. When you really think about it, it's just another day in Mystic Falls." Damon says in one of his 'I couldn't care less tones'. Bonnie finds herself thankful for this attempt to lighten the situation.

"Yeah, when we make it out of here, remind me that moving out is at the top of my list of things to do." She says lightheartedly. She could never leave her friends behind and he knows it.

"I'll make sure to do that right after I do everything else that actually matters… and maybe a few other insignificant things just to annoy you." He says smirking. Bonnie finds herself giving a weak laugh, but a laugh nerveless.

"You're not as bad as most would say, you know." Bonnie says.

"Well thank you, your compliments warm my heart." Damon says sarcastically, but his eyes are playful.

"You know what I mean." She says.

"Yeah. You're not the worst company either." He says.

They stop in front of the boarding house.

"Well that was easy. You think luck might've finally turned our way?" Damon asks.

"I sure hope so." She says and walks inside.

Damon starts following her, but something black catches his eye. He turns to look at it, but there's nothing there, so he decides he's just being paranoid and walks into his home.

"Do you think Jeremy's here?" Bonnie asks.

"Probably, I saw him yesterday." Damon answers giving a small shrug. "But we should probably focus on finding Elena first, together, because the last thing I want is to have you all weird and possessed again the next time I see you." He says.

"Fine, fine, we stick together." Bonnie agrees. Damon leads her towards his room where he hopes Elena is still sleeping. He opens the door and steps inside. What he sees breaks his heart. Elena is curled up on the flour by his bed, crying.

"Elena." He says softly and in an instant he's by her side. He puts his hand on her arm, just like he did before, hoping she'll sense him again.

"I'm right here. Elena, I'm right here." He says and his voice breaks. Suddenly Elena looks at his direction.

"Damon?" She asks. She can't see him, but she knows he's there. When she woke up from a horrible nightmare and couldn't feel him anymore she panicked, thought she made the whole thing up, but now that he's back she can feel him more strongly and is surer that ever that he's real.

"Damon." She repeats a little less brokenly.

"That's amazing." Bonnie says walking up to them. Damon actually forgot she was there. He looks up at her and sees the sadness in her eyes, seeing her best friend likes this is hard on her too.

"Yeah, if only she could actually hear me." He says sadly.

"It's a start." Bonnie says. Damon leans closer to Elena.

"I love you so much." He whispers in her ear. To his surprise she jumps a little.

"Damon?... I-I heard that." She says smiling.

"You did?" He asks confused.

"I love you too." She says with more tears welling up in her eyes.

"Can you hear me now?" He asks hopefully, while looking into the eyes that look right through him, but she doesn't answer.

"Damon, I hate to say this, but we have to focus on getting out of here and most importantly getting away from that thing." Bonnie reminds him.

"Yeah, I know." He says sighing. He gently caresses Elena's arm, but neither of them actually feel the contact.

"Elena, I need your help. Bonnie and I, we're stuck here." He tries, but she clearly doesn't hear him.

"You should keep trying, she's kind of our only hope right now." Bonnie says sitting down on the bed.

"Let's say she does hear me, what could she do?" Damon asks.

"She should find a very powerful witch. My mom might help with that. She'd need someone who specializes on different realms. A powerful enough witch might have some spell to bring us back, because I think that was gram's original plan, to save my life." Bonnie says.

"And maybe that witch could also tell us who the hell 'it' is? 'Cause that would be pretty convenient to us." Damon says.

"Yeah, I just hope we're safe here." Bonnie says looking around and casting every shadow a suspicious look.

"I doubt a lamp is much of a threat, Bonnie." Damon says sarcastically.

"You try being a living puppet to that thing and we'll see how sarcastic you'll be then." She says.

Damon looks back at Elena who's looking down at her arm that he's still caressing.

"Looks like you're gonna have to do the saving this time." He says sadly. But she'll come through, he knows she will. She wouldn't be Elena Gilbert if she wouldn't do everything for her friends, or him. And he silently promises himself that when she does bring him back he will never let anything come between them again.

Darkness circles around the boarding house. No one has ever made it out of it's world before and now, for the first time ever, a connection has been made between the dark world and the human one. So it knows what the next move has to be. The connection must be destroyed.


	4. Chapter 4

**So this took awhile, sorry. I'll try to update more frequently, especially since now I have a short vacation from school and lots of inspiration from the new TVD episodes. By the way, the new episodes are amazing, I absolutely love them. I was a little annoyed that Alaric compelled Elena to forget Damon, but so far it's been very interesting and I like it that she now knows she loved him, but doesn't remember it, I'm really curious on how that's going to turn out. So like I said, the new season is great. On a different topic, the is a pretty long chapter, way longer than my usual ones, I hope that and some Delena awesomeness will make up for the long wait.  
**

_Darkness circles around the boarding house. No one has ever made it out of it's world before and now, for the first time ever, a connection has been made between the dark world and the human one. So it knows what the next move has to be. The connection must be destroyed._

Light is shining in through the window. The sun rays light up the room in a glow that brings comfort to Damon and Bonnie, who are both still freaked out about the darkness that attacked them. Elena is currently talking to Caroline in her room in the boarding house.

"You seem to be in a good mood today." Caroline says surprised.

"Yeah, I am." Elena agrees. For a moment she considers telling Caroline that Damon is in the room with them, that she is completely aware of his presence by her side, his comforting hand on her arm, even if she can't actually see or feel him. She quickly decides against it. Caroline would never believe her, she would simply think Elena has lost it. If anyone could believe her it would be Jeremy. He's hurting just as much as she is, so he'd consider the possibility of this new found hope. But how can she tell her hurting brother that there's hope when she doesn't understand what's happening herself?

"Any particular reason for it?" Caroline asks, breaking Elena out of her thoughts.

"I guess… for the first time in so long I feel like things might actually be okay." Elena answers.

"Well good. It's time for us to start living our lives again." Caroline says.

"It's not going to work." Damon tells Bonnie who is trying to get the girls' attention by waving her hands in front of their faces.

"Well then why don't you try something that will?" Bonnie tells Damon with a glare.

"Relax already. I'll find a way to talk to Elena, tell her we're in some freaky dimension, she'll find a witch and get us out." Damon says.

"Or we'll get possessed by some monster of darkness that calls itself 'it' and die. Again." Bonnie says annoyed.

"Not if we stay by Elena's side." He says.

"We don't know that for sure." The ex-witch argues.

"Don't be such a downer." Damon tells her rolling his eyes.

Bonnie is about to throw an angry retort back at him, but decides against it. Her two best friends are sitting on the bed talking about moving on… well Caroline is talking about moving on, Elena seems to be lost in her own thoughts, but the point is that neither of them have any idea she's here, It's like she doesn't even exist. She never thought she'd say that, but she is beyond thankful that Damon is here with her, she has no idea what she'd do if she was alone. However while Damon is content with not leaving Elena's side Bonnie can't just sit around and do nothing. He doesn't understand, that monster isn't just another one of their villains, it's worse than Silas and Klaus and all the others they have faced put together. Their only hope is to find a way out of this place before '_it_' finds them.

"We have to find Jeremy." Bonnie says standing up. Her companion groans in annoyance.

"Look, I know you miss your 'let's keep on switching which one of us is dead' romance, but we're safe here, for all we know _'it'_ might be right outside the door, waiting for us to leave Elena's side." He says.

"Jeremy can see ghosts, so maybe he'll be able to see us." Bonnie argues.

"But we're not ghosts and besides I saw Jeremy and he couldn't see me." Damon says. Bonnie gives him a death glare, which he ignores.

"Well I'm going." Bonnie says.

"So that you can get possessed again? No way." Damon says shaking his head.

"Then I guess you have no choice but to come with me." Bonnie says in a fake sweet tone. Now it's Damon's turn to glare at Bonnie, but just like she knew he would, he stands up and walks to the door.

"If I become possessed because of you, the first thing I do will be kill you." Damon jokes and steps through the door. Both companions stare down the hallway with worried looks. The light room with Elena and Caroline suddenly seems very safe and comforting.

"Ladies first." Damon says with a smirk. Bonnie glares at him, but steps forward anyway. Damon is right behind her.

"Where do you think he is?" Bonnie asks glancing around the hallway for any signs of darkness.

"Not far." Damon answers remembering Jeremy's worried and broken eyes. "Let's check his room" He adds. They quickly walk towards Jeremy's room and when they walk inside they see none other than Jeremy Gilbert sitting at his computer.

"Jeremy?" Bonnie asks hopefully, but he doesn't answer.

"Do your thing. I'll be on the look out in the hallway." Damon says and after getting a small nod from Bonnie walks out of the room.

Bonnie walks toward her boyfriend. She puts a gentle hand on his shoulder, but gets no reaction from him. He keeps on surfing the internet. Upon taking a closer look at the computer screen Bonnie realizes that Jeremy is looking for ways to contact the dead.

"You're trying to get me back." Bonnie says amazed. Determined, she brings her face in front of his and tries to meet his gaze, except that he only looks through her.

"Come on Jer! Can't you see me? Can't you tell I'm here?" She asks desperately. The next thing she knows Jeremy throws all his notes and books off the table in a quick move that shows anger and frustration. This makes Bonnie jump back.

"Damn it! This isn't working!" Jeremy yells. He bangs his fists on the table in a fit of rage. "Why didn't you tell me Bonnie? Why…?" He cries.

"I'm so sorry Jer." Bonnie whispers brokenly. He looks so defeated.

"We were supposed to be in this together." He says.

"But I'm here now. I'm here and I need your help." She says desperately. He rests his head on the table and takes deep breathes, trying to calm down.

"I'm standing right here!" Bonnie screams. "I was possessed, I feel terrified and no one can see me, it's like I'm not even here! But you, _you_ were the one who _always_ saw me! Even when I felt so lost I couldn't see myself, _you_ did! So why can't you now?" Somewhere along the way her screaming turns to crying. The worst part is – she just poured her heart out to him and didn't hear a word. She's still crying as she runs out of the room and, ignoring Damon, runs down the hallway into an empty room. She slides down the wall and cries. She cries for all those lost souls whose screams and empty eyes still hunt her, cries for Jeremy who apparently spends his days trying and failing to find a way to save her and most of all cries for herself.

"I take it he couldn't see you?" Damon's voice startles her. She turns her face to the side, trying to hide her tears. Unexpectedly Damon sits down beside her and sighs.

"This being possessed thing really messed you up hugh?" Damon asks softly. He has no idea where to even begin comforting someone, but he feels like he should say something, anything.

"Bonnie, you are one of the strongest people I know and I'm the bad-ass vampire, together we'll find a way out of here." He says sounding way more confident than he actually feels.

Bonnie faces him, showing him her tear stained face.

"But I don't feel strong anymore. Ever since that _thing_ possessed me nothing's felt right. I haven't felt right. I feel like I lost a part of myself." She admits.

"What do you mean?" Damon asks startled.

"…It's… it's like that darkness took something that made me _me _and now I don't know who I am anymore… Jeremy always knew who I was, even when I didn't." She admits.

"That's why you wanted to see him." Damon realizes.

"I didn't realize it before, but yeah. I just feel so weak and scared and _useless._" Her voice breaks.

"Bonnie, you are _not_ useless or weak and it's okay to be afraid. Everyone is sometimes." Damon says reassuringly. But the broken eyes that stare into his show that his words had no effect on her. In that moment Damon decides that he hates '_it'_ more than he's ever hated anyone before. More than Katherine, more than the Augustines.

"Jeremy might not be able to see you, but I am." The serious tone causes Bonnie to look at Damon with curiosity. "I know exactly who you are. You are a strong, brave and very powerful witch, who is so selfless that she managed to repeatedly die to save those she cares about… and to forgive a jerk who has threatened and put her and her friends' lives in danger many times… even though he really didn't deserve it." He says the last part quietly.

"Damon…" Bonnie trails off, suddenly at a loss for words.

"Don't." Damon says shaking his head. She sighs, but since he made it clear he doesn't want her going into the topic of his past actions, decides not to point out the fact that he's saved many lives too and that he's also died doing it.

"Thank you." She says honestly. He nods.

"Now how about we go find Elena?" Damon asks.

"Yeah, okay." Bonnie agrees with a small smile.

***TVD***

After Caroline leaves it doesn't take Elena more than a few seconds to realize Damon is not by her side anymore. She pushes panic down by reasoning that he probably simply left the room. She decides that she can't just sit around and wait, now that she knows Damon's still around she has to work harder than ever to bring him back and she can't do that alone. She needs to tell someone. Stefan's name is the first one that comes to her mind. He'd understand, he'd believe her, she has no doubt about that. But Stefan's gone and she knows, in her heart Elena knows, he's not coming back, not unless Damon brings his brother back himself. Stefan seemed to be doing so well, while she was a mess. He was sad, of course, but he got out of bed every morning, he fed and he came by the bed Elena refused to leave every day. He talked to her, tried to get her mind off things, make her feel better.

"_How can you handle it so well?" _She had once asked.

"_I… I guess I just keep on going forward. Because I know that if I stop even for a second I'll never be able to start moving again." _He had answered. They're friends thought he was fine, but a week after losing Damon and Bonnie he was gone. No goodbye, no anything, he just left. A few weeks passed until they're friends managed to find trace of him, and that trace was very disturbing – a trail of bodies all over the country. That was when everyone realized Stefan had turned his humanity off. They were so shocked and disappointed, they didn't understand. Elena understood perfectly. You can't run out your demons, because sooner or later you'll have to stop running, stop moving forward. And when you do stop and you realize that you're stuck I this horrible place, what are you supped to do then? That's how she felt too and, like Stefan, she was ready to take drastic measures – to end her life. But Damon saved her, he brought her back from this destructive path she was stuck on and he showed her how to start moving again. He was the only person who could do that for her and he is the only person who can do it for Stefan. So Stefan isn't an option. The only other person who might believe her is Jeremy. She decides that she has to tell him.

***TVD***

After calming down Jeremy sits down on his bed and stares at the plain wall. A memory of a teacher he once had finds its way to him. It was years ago, before his life became crazy, before he lost his parents. The teacher was a woman in her late forties. She believed that meditation and calm approach to things could solve any problem, so at the beginning of every class she'd make her students meditate. The meditation was very simple, you had to close your eyes and even your breathing.

"_Breathe in. Hold your breath. Breathe out. Hold your breath. Breathe in. Hold your breath. Breathe out." _She would instruct. According to her this made the students more focused. Jeremy remembers how when she'd say _'Okay, let's breathe now.' _He would laugh. _'She thinks we don't breathe by ourselves.' _He'd say. But now he understands how important it is to keep your head clear and he can't help but wonder whenever the technique really works, because he could use some calm. _She said goodbye over the phone. _He slowly breathes in.

'_Knock. Knock'_

A knocking snaps Jeremy out of his thoughts. His door opens to reveal Elena. Jeremy finds himself noticing there's something different about his sister, but it's not her appearance, it's a light in her eyes that wasn't there before. A light that disappeared with Damon.

"Hey, I need to talk to you." Elena says stepping into his room.

"Is something wrong?" Jeremy asks and then winces at his own wards. Of course something's wrong – _everything _is wrong. But Elena surprises him by shaking her head 'no'. She sits down next to him.

"There's something that I have to tell you and this is going to sound really crazy." She says.

"After everything we've been through, I doubt anything you say can sound crazy." He points out.

"I know, but we're talking about a whole new level of crazy here." She says.

"Go on." He encourages.

"Yesterday I tried to kill myself." She says. Her words are a harsh reminder, but he decides now is not the time to dwell on it.

"I know." He simply says.

"But I didn't. I didn't because something stopped me… or more like someone." She continues.

"Who?" He asks.

"I couldn't see, feel or even hear him, but… but I knew he was there. I don't even know how to explain it, but I felt it in my heart that he was." She says.

"Who?" He asks again, this time sounding more confused. Elena takes a deep breath before replaying.

"Damon." She finally tells him.

"…Damon? You 'felt' it that Damon was there with you?" He asks incredulously. His sister gives him a desperate look, one that begs him to believe her.

"I know how this sounds, but I'm not making it up. I've heard him too, only a few times, but I heard him, _talking_ to me. He's still around, stuck somewhere. Which means we can get him back. We can get them both back." Elena says.

"You've heard Bonnie too?" He asks.

"… No. But she might be here too." Elena answers.

"But the other side is gone." Jeremy says.

"So maybe the other side wasn't the only place where dead supernatural beings go after death." Elena argues.

"I… I don't know what to say. I want to believe you, but…" He trails off, unable to find the right words.

"We have to at least try." She says desperately. "You know they wouldn't give up on us." She adds quietly.

Jeremy feels conflicted, he wants to believe there's still hope, but on the other hand Elena's mental state has been very fragile lately. Their eyes meet and once again Jeremy finds himself taken off guard by the sudden re-appearance of life in his sister's eyes. Suddenly he realizes that this 'feeling Damon's presence' thing is what caused it. It saved her life and it gave her hope for a future. Isn't that a good thing? And maybe it could do the same for him.

"Okay. Let's try." He finally answers.

"You believe me?" She asks amazed.

"I believe you." He answers. Elena sighs in relief. "So what now?" He adds.

"I don't know yet. But I'll find out, I just need to somehow talk to Damon." She says determined to bring Damon and Bonnie back.

"Should we tell others?" Jeremy asks.

"They wouldn't understand." She answers after a short moment of hesitation. Jeremy nods. He gets what his sister means. Their friends have been all over him about pulling himself together, getting out of the house, moving on. They expect for him to be fine. He knows they mean well, but they have no idea what kind of grief he's going through. It's not something you can get without experiencing it yourself.

"Then we'll tell them once we know more ourselves." He says.

"Okay." His sister agrees.

When she leaves Jeremy lets himself fall back onto his bed and stares at the ceiling. Breathe in. Hold your breath. Breathe out.

***TVD***

The sun has already set and she's tired, so Elena lays down in her bed and searches for the familiar comforting feeling of Damon's presence. She relaxes once she feels it. He's lying on the bed with her. If someone asked her to explain how she knows this she wouldn't be able to, she simply knows, like you know the sky is blue.

"I'll find a way to bring you back." She whispers.

Damon smiles at her words.

"I know you will." He answers.

"That's incredible." Bonnie says shaking her head in amazement.

"She can't hear me." Damon says shrugging.

"But she knows you're here. Which means there must be a way for her to hear you too. She has before." Bonnie says.

"Yeah, I just don't know how." Damon says looking at his girlfriend. He notices that she has dozen off. Out of habit he brings a gentle hand to brush a strand of hair out of her face, but since he can't actually come into physical contact with anything he ends up simply brushing his hand across her cheek. Gently, so very gently. If only he could actually feel her skin under his fingers. He closes his eyes and tries to focus on her. Nothing else exists, nothing but her. If he concentrates hard enough, maybe just for a second he can convince himself he feels her.

Suddenly something unexpected happens. Damon realizes that he's only half aware of his body and his consciousness is mending with Elena's. The realization comes to him that he is entering her dream, just like he could enter people's dreams as a vampire, only this feels slightly different. He does his best to focus on her dream until he sees that he is standing in front of Elena's house. The same house she burned down after Jeremy died. He looks in through the window and sees Elena talking to a woman he has only seen in pictures – her mother. He watches as they talk and then suddenly the woman is gone. She vanishes into thin air as if she was never even there. Elena seems to be looking around and calling out for her. The house doesn't seem so bright anymore, it looks cold and lonely and empty. When Damon walks closer to the window he hears Elena's voice.

"Mom? Mommy where are you?... Dad? Jeremy?... Can anyone hear me?..." It's not just her mom she's calling out to. She sounds so desperate, so broken. It breaks Damon's heart.

"Anyone?…Damon?!... Please don't leave me…" She begs. That breaks Damon out of his trance. With a pang in his chest he realizes the meaning of this dream – the grief of losing most of her loved ones. It kills him that he is now one of those people whose loss hunts her, that she's hurting because of him. He silently prays that at least in the dream Elena will be able to see him, walks to the front door, opens it and steps inside.

***TVD***

Bonnie doesn't understand what's happening. One moment her and Damon were talking and the next he just froze with his eyes closed and his hand still touching her cheek. Calling out to him didn't snap him out of it either.

"Damon, seriously, this is not funny." She says and puts her hand on his shoulder. Suddenly an image of Elena's house rises in her mind. She sees Elena standing inside and Damon looking in through the window. Startled, she quickly takes her hand off his shoulder and then, when she finds herself back in Elena's room in the Boarding house, realizes that what she just saw was a dream - Damon somehow entered Elena's dream! If he can talk to her they might find their way out of this place after all. Suddenly there's a knock on the door, it opens and Bonnie sees Jeremy standing in the doorway. It looks like he's about to say something, but when he sees his sister's sleeping form he leaves, quietly closing the door behind him. After casting a quick glance at Damon and Elena Bonnie makes a quick decision to follow her boyfriend and see if she can make any progress as well, so she steps through the door and catches up to him.

"I wish you could see me. I'd tell you that I love you… and that I'm sorry." She tells Jeremy sadly.

***TVD***

Elena keeps on looking around her empty house, but everyone's gone. Everyone she ever cared about, everyone she ever loved… _all_ gone. She struggles to hold back her tears.

"Elena?" She hears a voice behind her. It's a familiar voice. A comforting one. She's afraid to turn around and not find him there. Hesitant footsteps approach her while she stands frozen in place. The footsteps stop and despite herself, she turns around. Their eyes meet.

"Damon!" She yells. She quickly runs up to him and throws her hands around him. Damon instantly hugs her back. She doesn't understand how this is possible, but she's too happy to care.

"Elena." He says her name again and it's the most beautiful thing she ever heard. They hug each other as tight as they can, afraid that if they let go even for a second they'll lose each other again.

"I love you so, so much." He whispers.

"I love you too." She says through her tears and only then she realizes that she's crying. They pull back just enough to look at each other.

"You promised to come back." She says, but it's not an accusation.

"I know. I'm sorry." He says quietly.

"Don't be sorry, just never leave me again." She says. Her chest tightens when she notices the hesitation her words caused.

"Damon?" She asks.

"This is a dream, Elena. You'll wake up and… and I'll be gone." He says brokenly. A dream. That's right, she fell asleep. This house is gone… and so is Damon. The realization brings fresh tears to her eyes.

"This isn't real." She says to herself. To be given hope and then have it ripped away from you again, that is one of the worst feelings Elena has ever felt in her entire life.

"This world might not be real, but I am." Damon says. This makes Elena meet his gaze.

"You were right, I've been with you since… since you tried to kill yourself. I don't know how, but I somehow entered your dream. This is really me, Elena, I'm real." He says. Elena searches his eyes, trying to decide whenever to believe him.

"Kiss me." She finally whispers. Their faces are already only inches from each other, so without wasting any time Damon leans in the rest of the way and kisses her. The kiss is desperate and full of passion. But because they have so much to talk about it doesn't last for long. After they pull away they keep each other in a tight embrace. They rest their foreheads together.

"Is Bonnie with you?" Elena asks.

"She's with me." He reassures her.

"Thank God." She sighs. "How do I bring you back?" She asks.

"We're in another dimension. To get back we need a very powerful witch, one who specializes in other dimensions to do a spell. Bonnie's mother might help you find one." He explains.

"Okay. I'll find a witch." She says nodding. "Is there something else?" She asks when she notices hesitation in his eyes.

"… I don't want to worry you, but there's something with us in the dimension. The creature calls itself '_it' _and let's just say it's not very friendly. The only way I can really describe it is that it's made of darkness… It would really help Bonnie and me if you could ask some witch what this creature might be." He says.

"Okay. But you're already dead, there's nothing it can do to you, right?" Elena asks trying not to start panicking.

"… I'm not so sure about that… But don't worry, I won't let anything stop me from finding my way back to you." He promises. She smiles, but then frowns and looks away.

"I'm sorry I gave up." She says avoiding his eyes. He gently crops her face to get her to look at him.

"I'm the one who's sorry. I'm sorry for letting you down." He says.

"You didn't let me down." She says.

"…You couldn't hear me on that bridge, so I'll say it again. I will come back to you. I promise. You just have to give me some time." He swears looking into her teary eyes.

"I will wait for you forever if I'll have to." She whispers.

"Before the morning comes and you wake up, I have to ask you, where's Stefan?" He asks. Elena was hoping he wouldn't ask.

"…Stefan couldn't handle losing you. He turned his humanity off and left… but we'll get him back. You'll save him like you saved me." She says. Damon nods.

"Staying inside a dream isn't easy, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep it up." He says, because he starts to become aware of his body back in the boarding house again.

"That's okay. We'll have forever soon." She says smiling.

"Yes, we will." Damon agrees.

***TVD***

The next thing he knows, Damon is lying next to Elena in her bed again, unable to feel her cheek under his hand. He observes her sleeping form, feeling more hopeful than ever now that he got to actually talk to her. Suddenly he notices that Bonnie isn't in the room anymore.

"Damn it, Bonnie." He says standing up. He steps out into the dark hallway.

"Bonnie!?" He yells, but gets no answer. He starts walking forward.

***TVD***

Bonnie is sitting in a chair in Jeremy's room, watching him spend his night searching the internet for clues on how to bring her and Damon back. Though she tried to get his attention, Jeremy doesn't know she's there, which hurts, but ever since her talk with Damon, she's been feeling a lot better. She briefly considers going back to him, but decides against it, as she's too scared of running into _'it'_. She decides to spend the night with Jeremy and go find Damon in the morning.

***TVD***

Elena wakes up and sees that it's still dark. She remembers her dream and is absolutely sure that it was really Damon in her dream and not simply her imagination. She can feel it that Damon isn't in the room with her, but this time doesn't panic, he'll come back, he always does. Not feeling tired anymore, she turns the light on and looks at herself in the mirror. She decides that she's neglected herself for far too long, how can she save Damon when she can't even take care of herself? So she picks up her hairbrush and starts brushing her messy hair.

***TVD***

"Bonnie!" Damon yells again. He really hopes she hasn't been possessed again. He looks around the kitchen, sees there's no trace of his companion here and turns around to go back upstairs. He stops in his tracks. A form of darkness is in front of him.

"Making a connection with that girl, _talking_ to her, did you really think you could get away with it?" It hisses. He gulps.

"Look, I get it that this is 'your territory', and believe me I would love nothing more than to leave, but I don't know how. However I will once I figure it out." He says in a light tone while also slowly backing away.

"No one ever leaves." It hisses again.

"I guess I'll be the first then." He tries to sound confident.

"When I'm done with you, all there will be left will be an empty shell for me to control." It hisses. Damon quickly scans the room for a weapon, but it's too late. The last thing he sees is darkness coming his way.

***TVD***

Elena is looking at her now fully brushed hair in the mirror. She decides that it's good enough and is about to put the hairbrush down on the table, but instead the brush falls to the ground as she doubles over in pain. Her hand clutches at her heart, expecting to find a bleeding wound, but is surprised when she realizes the sharp pain in her chest wasn't caused by anything physical. She falls to her knees with a thud, one hand resting against the ground to keep herself from completely falling down and the other still clutching her aching chest. Confused and disoriented Elena tries to even her fast, shallow breathing and calm her racing heart. She doesn't understand what's happening to her, she feels like a part of her was ripped away, like her only lifeline has been severed… Her eyes go wide with the realization.

"Damon." She whispers horrified.

**Yes, that just happened. I've been planing to take this story here ever since I came up with it, which was in the middle of writing chapter 2, since the first chapter was originally supposed to be a one shot. Anyway, thank you everyone who reviewed this story so far, I hope you're still interested in reading this and to any new readers - I'm really glad you decided to check my story out.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I loved "The world has turned and left me here" that Damon's and Stefan's reunion was amazing. After I finished watching the episode I was really inspired to write so I went to my computer and wrote like half of this chapter, I probably would've finished the entire chapter, but it was Halloween and I had plans (I watched the episode on Friday 'cause of the time difference), unfortunately this week school started again after a short vacation and I was very busy so I only finished this now. Maybe if the next episode will be so awesome too I'll have more inspiration to write and update even sooner.**

_Elena doesn't understand what's happening to her, she feels like a part of her was ripped away, like her only lifeline has been severed… Her eyes go wide with the realization._

"_Damon." She whispers horrified._

***TVD***

Darkness. All Damon sees is darkness. Nothing else matters. Nothing else exists. But no, there was something else, something important. A name just out of his reach. A name that belongs to a girl. A girl he made a promise to. What was her name? How could he have forgotten?

***TVD***

"JEREMY!" Elena screams throwing herself through the door and into her brother's room. Jeremy's eyes widen at seeing Elena's distressed state.

"Elena, what's wrong?" He's by her side in an instant, trying to calm her down.

"D- Damon. Something's wrong with Damon." She gets out through her tears. Her legs give out and she sinks to the ground, Jeremy holding her up by her arms being the only thing stopping her from completely falling down. He gently lowers Elena to the ground.

"Tell me what happened." He asks gently.

"I don't know what happened, that's the problem… God I don't even know what happened." She sobs.

"Elena." Jeremy tries to soothe her.

"I felt him, I knew he was there it was like… like I was somehow connected to him and then… then I… I got this feeling… it was like that connection was ripped away from me and now I can't feel him anymore." She cries.

"That doesn't mean something bad happened to him." Jeremy says softly.

"I felt something bad happen to him Jeremy!" Elena screams. Suddenly her eyes go wide and she stares at her brother in horror. "I lost him all over again." She whispers.

"You don't know that." He says quietly, sensing that his sister is about to completely break down. Elena frantically shakes her head, trying to block the entire world out as sob after sob wrecks her. "Elena, you _don't_ know that." Jeremy says more firmly, trying to meet her gaze. Her crying becomes hysterical as she curls up on the floor.

"Elena." Jeremy says sadly with tears welling up in his own eyes.

The siblings don't know this, but Bonnie was in the room with Jeremy when Elena rushed in and heard everything. Seeing her best friend so torn up and not being able to do anything about it was torture, but hearing Elena's concerns about Damon was worse. As soon as Elena breaks down and Bonnie decides she's not going to find anything else out by listening to her and Jeremy's conversation, she runs out of the room, momentarily forgetting about_ 'it'_. She runs down the dark hallway, hoping Elena's wrong and Damon is fine.

"Damon!" She yells trying to decide where to look first. Bonnie tries to ignore all the troubling thoughts that keep rushing into her head. She stops by the stairs and looks over the railing trying to see the first floor. It hits her just how dark it is. The hunting memories of being possessed resurface in her mind and she shivers. She tries to push down her fear and focus on finding Damon. A thud from downstairs makes her jump.

"Damon?" She whispers, but like she expected, gets no answer. Despite herself Bonnie starts walking down the stairs. She walks slowly, flinching at the sounds her own footsteps make. As soon as the first floor comes into her view, Bonnie sees him.

"Damon." She says relieved and quickens her pace, no longer feeling afraid, but stops on the third step from the ground when she realizes that Damon's still standing with his back turned to her.

"Damon?" She asks, her voice holding a note of unsurety. "Damon, what are you doing?" She asks, but once again her only answer is the deafening silence. She begins to feel the familiar panic, but tries to push it down.

"Damon!" She yells in a desperate attempt to get his attention. Just as she starts considering going up to him Damon turns around. What she sees makes Bonnie gasp in horror – Damon's eyes are black and his face is covered with black lines.

"Hello again, witch." Damon says in a voice that isn't Damon's.

"What did you do to Damon?" She forces out, though she knows the answer.

"I possessed him. He's mine now." It takes a step closer and Bonnie instinctively takes a step back, which results in her almost falling over, because she's still standing on the stairs. She manages to get back her balance and takes a step up instead.

"It was so cute, how he came here, away from the safety of that girl, looking for _you_." It says. Bonnie's eyes widen at the realization.

"I wasn't there when he was finished talking to Elena." She whispers.

"Come here, let this be over. Be both know you don't stand a chance alone, not after what I did to you." It says reaching out Damon's hand. She turns around and runs back up the stairs in an instant, refusing to even consider the offer. She runs towards Elena's room, praying to find her there and for Elena's presence to still offer safety. She runs into the room and sees Elena laying in her bed, curled up under the covers and Jeremy sitting by her bedside, looking worried. Bonnie lets her heartbeat return to its normal pace, but the moment it finally sinks in that she made it to safety another thing hits her.

"No." She whispers. "No, no, no Damon." Tears start rolling down her cheeks. She lets herself sink to the ground just like Elena did in Jeremy's room, only there's no one there to hold her up, not anymore.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She cries, overwhelmed with fear, worry and most of all – guilt.

***TVD***

The fog lifts from Damon's brain and he can finally make sense of some things. The girl's name is Elena and he made a promise to come back to her. He intends to keep it. Though his current predicament might make it difficult. He's standing, or at least he thinks he's standing, it's so hard to tell when all you see is darkness and you can't tell up and down apart. He can hear noises, rustling and occasional whimpers or screams. He considers the possibility that he might be unconscious, but quickly dismisses it. The last thing he remembers is _'it'_ coming his way, that and Bonnie's description of being possessed makes Damon pretty sure he's currently being possessed by that monster. He tries to concentrate on his real body, to somehow take back control, but it's hard to concentrate on what you can't even feel. The screaming is horrible, there seem to be so many different people, all in agony.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" He asks hesitantly, but his voice is drown out by all of the screams. He tries taking a step forward, hoping to not trip over anything. Being a vampire has provided Damon with a perfect night vision, which is why it's so disturbing for him to not be able to see anything now. The darkness feels somehow heavy, like it's trying to weigh him down, to destroy him. He takes another step forward only to bump into something.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The figure screams and before Damon can back away the figure grabs hold of his arms in a death grip. For the first time since he woke up Damon is finally able to see something – a very pale disfigured face with completely grey, blank eyes that seem to be looking at him without really seeing him. Blue lips keep on opening and closing, perhaps trying to form words, but no actual sound leaves them. Damon stares at him in horror.

"Hey there." Damon tries to sound at ease. "Why don't you let me go and we can talk." He offers, but it appears that the figure either can't hear or understand him. Damon tries to pull the hands away from himself, but either the figure is very strong, or for some reason Damon's too weak. Even through his jacket, he begins to feel how cold the figure's hands are, it's like being touched by ice. The cold seems to seep into Damon's bones, forcing him to shiver. He starts wondering whenever it was always this cold in here and he's just realizing it now, or if it's the cold from the figure that's freezing him so quickly.

"Okay, okay seriously let me go." Damon says trying to push him away. The figure lets out a whimper. Damon finally manages to release the figure's grip, as soon he's free he stumbles a few steps back, feeling like he's about to freeze to death.

"Vampires don't get cold. What's happening to me?" He asks out loud. The figure is out of his sight, but there are probably a lot more and Damon has a feeling that the screaming people aren't the enemy here.

***TVD***

Elena is woken up by the sun shining into her room. It only takes a second for the memories of last night to come back to her and as soon as they do she's instantly out of bed. She closes her eyes and frantically tries to find that connection to Damon, but all she feels is emptiness.

"No. I refuse to give up." She says to herself.

Bonnie looks at her friend, feeling grateful for Elena's determination.

"Elena, do you know I'm here?" She asks hopefully, but Elena simply picks up some clothes and goes take a shower, deciding that if she wants for anyone to take her seriously, she has to show them she's doing better. Bonnie sighs and sits down on her bed. She remembers how supportive and understanding Damon was being, she had actually started thinking of them as friends.

'_Jeremy might not be able to see you, but I am._ _You are a strong, brave and very powerful witch, who is so selfless that she managed to repeatedly die to save those she cares about… and to forgive a jerk who has threatened and put her and her friends' lives in danger many times… even though he really didn't deserve it.'_

She had wanted to tell him that he did deserve it, that he's done so many good things along the way too, that he died to save the people he cared about right along with her. The words had died in her throat before she even started speaking them. If only she would've said them. He always thinks so low of himself, she didn't see it before, but she does now. Bonnie's thoughts trail to her own experience with _'it'_. She was possessed for a few hours and the effect it had on her was huge, Damon's already been possessed for the entire night. Bonnie worries that if she doesn't figure out a way to save Damon soon, there might not be anything left to save.

When Elena leaves the bathroom her hair is freshly washed and brushed, she's wearing new clothes and even some make up. She takes a deep breath before leaving her room and Bonnie follows a few steps behind her. As Elena gets to the stairs her vampire hearing picks up Jeremy's and Alaric's voices.

Jeremy is looking at Alaric, trying to decipher his reaction. Jeremy couldn't sleep last night, he kept thinking about everything Elena told him, about how she rushed into his room and completely broke down convinced something had happened to Damon. He couldn't help but consider the possibility that everything Elena said was true and Bonnie was out there somewhere, needing his help, probably in some kind of danger. Eventually he decided to tell someone, he was a little hesitant about this idea because of his and Elena's agreement to keep their friends out of the loop for awhile, but then decided that if Bonnie and Damon really were in danger they couldn't afford to waste any time, also he was worried about his sister, afraid that she might sink into her unresponsive, depressive state again. They need Alaric's help and advice, Elena will understand that. That was the conclusion he came up with in the end, but now that it's out there and he can't take it back he's worried Elena will think he betrayed her and push him away.

"Do you think it's possible?" Alaric asks Jeremy, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes. Or maybe I just want for it to be, I don't know." He says.

"Yes it's possible." Elena says walking into the room. Startled, Jeremy tries to meet her gaze, but she doesn't look at him. Instead her eyes are focused on Alaric. She looks good, tired, but other than that if you didn't know any better you wouldn't be able to tell anything is wrong.

"We've seen the first vampires in the history of time, werewolves, hybrids, ghosts, most of us have died and came back to life so many times I've lost count, so why can't you believe _this_ is possible? Why can't you believe _me_?" She asks with a determination in her voice that neither Jeremy nor Alaric have heard in a long time. Elena glares at both of them, daring them to challenge her.

"Okay." Alaric says simply. Elena sighs and nods.

"We can get them back." She says.

"How?" Jeremy asks confused. He doesn't remember her mentioning anything about knowing a way to bring their friends back last night.

"We need to find a powerful witch that specializes in dimensions." She says.

"You didn't say anything about that yesterday." Jeremy voices his thoughts.

"Last night, after I told you about Damon, I talked to him. Really talked to him. He somehow managed to enter my dream." She explains.

"And he told you this? Did he say anything else?" Alaric asks not even questioning the reliability of a dream.

"He told me Bonnie was with him." She says looking at Jeremy with a smile on her face.

"She's okay?" Jeremy asks still unable to believe it.

"Yeah, she's okay." Elena says happily.

"She's okay." He repeats to himself.

The happiness quickly slips from Elena's face, once again replaced with worry.

"But about half an hour after I woke up I… I felt this pain in my chest, I didn't understand what it was at first, but then I realized… it was because of Damon." She says.

"What could've happened?" Alaric asks.

"I don't know. He mentioned something about a creature in the dimension with them… he made it seem like it was no big deal, but he sounded concerned." She says.

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Alaric says reasonably.

"You're right. I'm not going to give up. I think I have Bonnie's mom's number somewhere, she might be able to direct us to the right witch. You guys tell the others, we can't keep this from them anymore. And tell Caroline to call Klaus, he must know many witches. Someone has to know someone." Elena says. She goes back upstairs to look for Bonnie's mom's phone number without even giving them a chance to reply.

Bonnie is about to follow Elena back upstairs, but when she goes up to the stairs her best friend just went up she sees him standing on the stairs, which makes her stop in her tracks.

"Damon." She can't help but whisper, even though she knows this person in front of her is not Damon. _'It' _starts quickly walking down the stairs towards her. Bonnie turns around to run in the other direction, but this time the creature is faster than her. _'It'_ appears in front of her in seconds, grabs her by her upper arms and slams her into the wall. The impact makes Bonnie gasp, but she quickly recovers and tries to struggle out of the tight grip. Angered, the creature possessing Damon slams her into the wall again before pressing her against it. Bonnie groans, temporary dazed, her head spinning.

"Should've taken up my offer." _It_ hisses in her face.

***TVD***

"Yes!" Elena yells excited at having found her old phone. She quickly scans through the contacts and finds Bonnie's mom's number. She had it in her new phone, but then Katherine deleted many of her contacts when she possessed Elena's body, and then everything happened and she never really had a chance to restore the deleted numbers. She dials the number, not wanting to waste even a second, but then hesitates with her thumb hovering over the 'call' button. She decides to take a moment to relax and get her head straight, the woman lost her daughter, so she might need some reasonable convincing before she'll get on board with this. Elena closes her eyes and tries to momentarily let all the piled up grief and despair go. She lets her memories trail back to that summer with Damon before she left for college. She remembers all of the heated kisses and the whispered 'I love you's. It was perfect and beautiful and everything she ever wanted. She will always have those memories to cherish. Those memories will give her something to hold on to, give her hope. Nothing can ever take that away from her. With that in mind she opens her eyes and realizes she had started crying, but what actually startles her is that those are happy tears. All of a sudden she feels it – a warmness in her heart, a connection. She puts her hand over her chest, feeling both surprised and relieved. She's not even entirely sure whenever she's laughing or crying, perhaps it's something in-between.

Elena opens her door ready to go find Jeremy, but she doesn't have to look for long as she runs into him in the hallway.

"So Alaric's talking to the others, filling them in. Did you call Bonnie's mom?" He asks.

"Not yet… Damon's alive." She says.

"How do you know?" Jeremy asks.

"Remember that connection I told you about? I thought it was gone, but it wasn't, it's just weaker for some reason. I was so freaked out and overwhelmed by everything that I couldn't tell it was still there." She says feeling relieved.

"But something_ is_ wrong?" Jeremy asks to make sure. This makes Elena frown.

"Yeah, something is definitely wrong. But at least he's alive." She says. Jeremy nods his head.

***TVD***

Bonnie scans her surroundings, trying to find a weapon she can use, but the grip on her arms is strong and she's being pressed into the wall so hard it's painful on her back and still aching head. Under normal circumstances magic might be able to save her, but she's tried that and apparently she still can't do magic.

"What do you want from me?" She forces out.

"Your life." It hisses and then Damon's hands are around her throat. The grip isn't hard, she can still breathe but it's enough to make her heart race from terror. It's like the monster is enjoying taunting her. He brings his face so close she can feel his breathe on her face.

"You will be a nice addition, witch." It hisses and tightens the grip on her throat. She gasps and instinctively brings her now free hands to Damon's, unsuccessfully trying to push them away from her neck.

"Damon." She gasps out even though she knows it's hopeless. Panicked she struggles to breathe. Her wide, terrified eyes search Damon's black ones, trying to find her friend in there. As she can't help but lessen her struggling the realization comes to her that she's not going to make it. She's really going to die, this time permanently. It's kind of ironic that both times she's forced to face death it's with Damon. Bonnie's eyes water.

"Damon… It's -kay... sh-'ll. save. you... -lena will save you." She gasps out and at the same time several tears escape her eyes. Her vision is too blurry to see properly and she's so light-headed she's sure she's about to pass out, so she brushes it away as a trick of her mind when she thinks she sees Damon's black eyes widen. She opens her mouth, trying to force more words out, but finds herself unable to and ends up letting out a weak groan. Instantly the arms are gone from neck and she falls to the ground, but then the arms are back, this time catching her and gently lowering her to her knees and then supporting her by her waist. Disoriented and confused Bonnie grips the person's shoulders, coughing and gasping for breath. Her throat feels like it's on fire, but she's breathing and with every breath her body seems to slowly recover.

"Bonnie." She hears a familiar voice calling out to her and from the note of urgency she hears she decides this isn't the first time he's tried to get her attention. She looks at him, still holding her up, and as common sense comes back to her she practically jumps away from his hold and crawls backwards, trying to get away from him, until she feels her back bump into the wall mere minutes ago he was holding her against and strangling her. To her surprise he doesn't try to grab a hold of her again and instead simply stays in his position, crouching on the flour and staring at her. His face is still covered with black lines and now, in the daylight, she notices that they're all over his arms too. His eyes, on the other hand, look different – more grey than black now, maybe even holding a shade of blue in them. Another thing is that while before his eyes seemed cold, now they just look dazed and tired. Bonnie reasons that he let her go and tried to help her, _it _wouldn't have done that and that's the only thing keeping her from dashing up the stairs, though in her current weak state she probably wouldn't get very far anyway.

"Damon?" She whispers, her voice raspy. He blinks once, twice.

"…Hey Judgy." He says and his voice holds none of the mocking she's used to hearing with that nickname, but she smiles anyway, knowing it's him and also knowing that's probably exactly why he used the old nickname.

"Damon." Bonnie smiles. "How is this possible?" She asks. He slightly shakes his head and then rubs his forehead as if trying to soothe away a nasty headache.

"I don't know." He breathes. "I heard you, saying my name, saying something about Elena and… and you sounded like you were in trouble." He explains.

"Damon, I-"

"You should go." He interrupts her.

"What?" Bonnie asks. She notices that his fists keep on clenching and unclenching. He meets her gaze.

"_It_ is still in me. You have to go Bonnie." He says. "Like _now_." He adds when he notices her hesitation. She pushes herself from the wall, but instead of standing up lets herself fall to her knees in front of Damon, coming face to face with him.

"…Elena will figure out a way. We'll save you. Just don't give up." She says. He looks at her and nods. Bonnie feels horrible just leaving him here, but she knows there's nothing she can do. Not yet at least. She can't save him if she's dead. She takes one last look at him, then stands up on her shaky legs and walks towards the stairs. She doesn't dare look back, afraid that if she does she'll change her mind and stay with him instead, so she walks away in silence, letting the guilt eat her up inside and the tears fall from her eyes. But she also feels a sense of hope that wasn't there before, because for the moment he's okay and even though she has no idea how he did it, he somehow managed to temporarily overpower '_it'_ and gain control of his body back. Perhaps they can make it out of this alive after all.

**I recently posted a one - shot called 'Memories Never Fade Away' it's kind of a look into Elena's head after Alaric compelled her to forget she loved Damon, basically it's what I hope she's secretly feeling in the show, because I really don't like it that she seems to hate Damon now. Anyway if you haven't read it yet and you like this story then you might like that one too, you can find it in my profile if you're interested and for everyone who did read it - I actually have an idea for a sequel, I'm not completely sure if I'll write it, but if I do it'll be sometime soon._  
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**Now let's go back to this story - a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed, you people keep me wanting to write and to update as soon as I can, seriously thank you.**


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